Where blood lies
~
Accalia
~

Accalia Larren felt like a delicate lamb when she first laid eyes on Lycus Fenris.

And that was what she would be deemed as, if she wasn't a hunter.

She never meant to cross his path, cross into his territory and most definitely not cross that unnatural line that shouldn't be there to begin with. A lycan mated to a hunter.

It made her sick to her stomach even thinking about it as her knuckles paled against the steering wheel.

She didn't realise her foot pushing on the accelerator that drifted down the winding roads, everything flashing before her.

"In a rush?" A voice mused beside her.

Accalia gave her cousin a side-way glance, a fixed look cutting across her face. "Get your feet off the dashboard, what have I told you, Cadence?" Accalia berated loudly and whacked her ankles.

Cadence frowned and removed her legs, but placed them on the seat, unable to sit still. "You're freaking out over nothing, we left his territory; we have the upper hand, Accalia."

No, we don't, Accalia thought doubtfully and wagged her head.

Lycus Fenris was the prime example of a predator. The beast of prey, the tracker, the Alpha. When he found his catch, there were only whispers through the grapevine that spread of what he would do to a person as they never make it out to tell their tales. All speculation and theories.

His name was stamped in books, tainting a hunter's tongue and smearing his bloodline in nothing but blood and war.

The Alpha of Alphas.

Lycus Fenris, the Alpha of not only his pack but the ultimate ruler of every other one.

"I still think I should have burnt his house down when I had the chance," Cadence chimed in making Accalia smile.

"You're sick—"

"Only if I knew where his room was," said Cadence, picking at her nails and pulling her brows together in thought, "I'd place dead bodies on his bed and with their blood—"

Mental, Accalia thought.

"Maybe that's a bit extreme. I'm only joking, maybe joking. Kinda."

It urged a laugh out of Accalia which was lightening enough for her low spirits.

All their lives, the Larren cousins, Accalia and Cadence were told not to be fearful of anything. Not when they know the existence of lycans, their descendants, werewolves, and the damnation they impelled to the human race.

They couldn't be afraid of something they were made to kill.

Only, Accalia wasn't scared of that, but something entirely different.

Mated to a Lycan, she thought numbly to herself. What could that even mean?

Accalia was familiar with the term, mate. Had come across it in history books and the stories of fellow hunters. Lycans and Werewolves can be tied to anyone, even a human and it was out of their control and choice. Growing up, a part of her duty was to digest as much information on the moon-bound creatures as possible. She was to know every detail of her threats.

She knew mates were considered to be a direct link to a lycan's humanity, nothing more than that. Mates couldn't be without each other and if they were to be, one would be worse off than the other.

That couldn't be Accalia. 

How could a lycan and hunter be bonded? It was nothing but a curse relayed on both of them.

Frustration writhed inside Accalia, a surging feeling she hadn't felt in years, not since her family's passing. The feeling is binding and even worse, harsh. She wanted out and would do anything to make it happen.

Why didn't he kill her when he had the chance? He had the instinct, the ability and the chance to do it. And yet, he didn't. He locked her away and left her to her maddening thoughts.

Any other lycan would've killed Accalia and Cadence on sight for trespassing. Any other pack would have. They would kill them without thought. After all, that was what a lycan was created for. To destroy and kill, nothing more. But there was a loophole. They could be bonded, to anyone. A human. To make them feel human. Humane.

Accalia sighed through her teeth. She only saw him once. He haunted and tormented her before he left his Beta to watch over them.

Accalia's knuckles still throbbed with pain from knocking her out.

"We should be back home in a few hours, Accalia," Cadence said as the minutes waned on by.

Accalia meekly nodded, exhaustion raking over her body more heavily than it did ten minutes ago.

They hadn't stopped driving since they left his territory.

"We'll have to fill the car up soon. I have twenty dollars on me." Accalia informed Cadence.

"I have eighty. I think that should get us back to the house before the tank is empty." Cadence responded, locking her dark eyes on the road as they drove onward.

"Dad will be so angry at us. We had one job and it wasn't to cross into his lands." Accalia murmured.

"I know," Cadence drawled out with a sigh. "He's going to be pissed. Pissed at us, pissed at the lycan and pissed at you for being—"

"Don't." Accalia rasped out and her lip trembled. "He's not my mate."

"Accalia, do you think Lycus Fenris will come after you?"

Accalia cringed but considered the question, finding herself in an endless field of possibilities. "I don't know, I can only hope he doesn't. I'm a hunter, he's a lycan. We're enemies and if he sees that, he won't bother with me."

And that was all she wanted from him. Not to bother her, not even consider her a person worthy of his time and to treat her like every other hunter.

A ragged sigh left Accalia's throat as she looked at the lowness of the small tank icon. Almost empty.

"We gotta fill the car up, it's nearly low," Accalia announced.

"We just drove past a sign that showed a nearby station. We'll stop there." Cadence responded, stiffening in her seat and it didn't go unnoticed to Accalia.

Cadence was as nervous as Accalia.

This will only delay things, setting their destination back by minutes. They already wasted enough time.

Jamming her foot on the accelerator, the SUV took off and sped down the road.

The forest on either side of them blurred and all that could be seen were dark green blurs.

"It's a good thing we have a car, aye?" Cadence said, wearing a cunning grin and smacking the dashboard.

Accalia rolled her eyes and rested her forearm on the console. "We stole it."

Cadence waved her off, "I would hardly see it as that,"

"Borrowing then?"

"You can't borrow something you're not going to return. I would call this ... compensation for being wrongfully locked up."

They locked gazes, a stubborn wall being built around them and neither was going to see eye to eye.

They bustled down the road for another few minutes before they came to their destination. An isolated, dodgy and rustic petrol station. There was no one else but them.

"I'll fill it up," Cadence muttered and unbuckled her seatbelt to hop out.

Accalia leant back with closed eyes, silencing the thoughts that danced around her head, unstoppable and commanding. 

Her father and brother came to mind. They would be disappointed, maybe even ashamed. Tristan didn't take kindly to cowardice and William didn't value weakness. Not a shred of it. They would most likely urge Accalia to slay the beast. But despite her family's commandments, all that they lived by, she always struggled to abide by their wishes and preach their commands.

Accalia rather not know so much. Not out of fear, but peace of mind. She didn't want to know of a hunter's heart being ripped out or a werewolf being hunted to death. She didn't want to commit such acts by her own hands, even though it was expected of her.

She had one job. To catch the lycan that got away. That her father freed and she cracked under the weight of his law.

Accalia's body swayed slightly to the side and she perked up, hearing a slam jolt by her. Looking around, her stomach did a flip when she couldn't catch sight of her lanky and tall cousin.

She was nowhere to be seen.

Unbuckling her seatbelt, Accalia got out of the car and fear spiked her insides as she caught sight of what stood behind the car.

A massive and bulky man with glowing eyes and scratch marks all over his body was ready to lay a scar on Cadence, who he currently had in a headlock.

"Let her go." Accalia's breathing hitched, eyes widening at the redness on Cadence's face. He was choking her.

"We have to return the both of you to the Alpha," the werewolf rasped out.

We?

A pair of strong arms circled themselves around Accalia like a snake and she was jerked back.

"I have eighty dollars," Cadence hollered, a look of challenge on her face. "I'll give you that and you let us go, aye? You don't even need to inform your big bad Alpha about this." Cadence reasoned unreasonably.

Accalia swallowed, thrashing against the werewolf's clutches as disgust rotted inside her.

"Fuck up, bitch," the wolf with scars snarled.

"Fine then," Cadence gritted, unnatural malice lacing her tone, "I'll just pour petrol all over you and light you up."

Cadence smashed her head back and a crack sounded. Freedom was given and the werewolf gripped his face.

Cadence collided her fist into his throat and he wailed for air, crumbling to his knees. Silver splintered into his neck by the rings on her finger.

Werewolves were limited. They, unlike lycans, couldn't fully transition into their other form unless it was a full moon. If they were bitten by an Alpha, they wielded more power, but for these common moon creatures, every ability they possessed wasn't at their full extent. Their only reliance was their animalistic nature.

Cadence used that to her advantage as she stalked to the petrol pump and unhooked it.

Accalia's eyes widened and she thrashed against the creature's hood, pitting all her weight in slamming him in the side of the car, trying to get out of his hold.

"Such a pity the Alpha didn't send us to kill the both of you," the wolf spat in Accalia's ear causing her to freeze, face stilling. "But maybe he'd rather do all the things we want to do."

Accalia shivered and smashed the back of her head into his face, making his clutches loosen.

Slipping out of his arms, Accalia spun around and jabbed him in the nose with all her might. Blood flowed, enough to glow his eyes and to centre exactly on her.

"You give the Alpha a message," Accalia ushered out between ragged breaths and towered close to him. "If he tries to hunt me down, he will die for it."

The mutt laughed and fell against the car.

"You like the taste of petrol?" Cadence asked, coming over to them.

Accalia looked back and the other wolf lay bloodied with an edge to reach back to his feet.

The wolf peered up at the two towering huntresses. "I'd rather taste your blood,"

Cadence shrugged and came down to his level, her black eyes sharpening into daggers. "I could cut you up with your greatest enemy, but we want you alive for one thing and one thing only."

Silver — the greatest threat against the werewolf species and a hunter's most liked choice of weaponry. But her statement lingered in the air like a foul stench as Cadence brewed her words into a sentence.

And it would be heeded.

"Send Lycus Fenris our regards."